Protective booties, socks, or shoes have been proposed for pets such as dogs in the past, both to protect the animal's paws when outdoors, and also to prevent soiling of indoor floors when the animal returns from a walk or the like. The owner simply removes the booties before the animal enters the house. Such footwear is generally non-disposable and must be washed between uses, and is often of a relatively complex and cumbersome nature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,704 of Fisher describes a dog boot comprising a planar flexible sheet of material comprising a high friction outer layer, a foam central layer, and a fabric inner layer. The sheet is designed to be wrapped around the leg and foot and snapped together with fastener straps:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,685 of Thomas describes a dog bootie comprising a tube of canvas material or the like having a closed bottom end and hook and loop fastening means around the open top. U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,828 of Solomon et al. describes animal boots each comprising a pliable sleeve with a waterproof outer layer and a fabric inner layer, and an adjustable fastening strap secured around the sleeve adjacent the open end by means of hook and loop type fastener material.
One problem in these sleeve-like booties with fastener straps using hook and loop material or buckle-like fasteners is that they may tend to slip off or be pulled off by the dog or other pet. They also can be awkward to fasten around the animal's legs.
To solve these aforementioned problems, the present invention provides a disposable protective bootie having an elastic loop to secure the bootie to the animal's leg. The protective bootie is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The protective bootie may be used to protect the animal's paws from unwanted or potentially harmful materials, such as snow, ice, mud, chemicals, or other debris. With a sufficient cushion, the protective bootie may be used to protect the animal from extreme weathers and to provide additional comforts to the animal. Furthermore, the protective bootie may also be used to protect other surfaces such as floors, from getting soiled by the animal. The protective bootie of the present invention is relatively inexpensive, and can readily be modified to suit different size animals and supplied to pet owners in bulk quantities for convenience.